Good Luck, Peter
by where's-waldo-15
Summary: Pre-series! Peter receives word of Neal's death, but he immediately recognizes it as another one of Neal's ploys. Neal-Peter interaction/friendship, but not slash! If you see slash, you're looking too hard! A little humorous, a little seriousness...R&R! :)


Peter noticed that when he entered the White Collar offices Monday morning, his team was unusually quiet. Usually on Mondays his probies would come to him with the latest news on the James Bonds case, but today, they only glanced at him from their desks, and then looked at the files on their desks, seemingly very busy all of a sudden.

Peter brushed it off though, thinking that they just didn't have any news and they felt bad about it, but were now working doubly hard to find the latest con of the great Neal Caffrey.

Peter reflected on the young charmer as he went up to his office, studying the corkboard of all of Neal's comings and goings around the world, thinking that this time he might find some clue, some pattern…but there was still nothing. The corkboard was completely covered with notes, including a few of the birthday cards that Neal had sent him. He could never figure out the man – he was just so…different. Different from every other criminal that he'd chased. There didn't seem to be much pattern to all of his cons – really just anything expensive caught his eye, and less than a week later, it would be a part of Neal's stash.

Of course, he was never able to _prove _anything, but still. He was getting pretty close with the forged bonds aspect. For now, he could set aside the other several crimes he'd committed and focus on one that could put Neal in jail. Right now, he had no idea where Caffrey was, but he was sure to find out with the news of another big con or theft or whatever somewhere.

Peter was interrupted from his musing by a knock at the open door. One of his probies, Diana Berrigan, stood there, holding a folder and a grim expression.

Peter had always liked Diana, ever since she'd arrived, though he frequently forgot her name, and she had to remind him. Now it was more of a joke between them, he still pretending that he forgot, though by now it might as well have been branded into his brain, and she knew it. He liked her spunk though, and he heard her making witty comebacks frequently to the other agents, though she was mostly respectful to him. Sometimes she'd snap back, but all in fun, and he'd never be angry at her for it. It was one of the many things he admired about her. She also loved the game of all of this – she was never too serious, though he'd seen her a couple of times facing off with someone with a gun in their face, and she was damn scary.

Which was why he was a little concerned by the grim look on her face. What could make someone like her lose a bit of her hard exterior?

"What is it?" he asked her with concern.

She gave him the folder after a moment's hesitation, saying, "It's Caffrey."

Peter expected the folder to be filled with pictures of something that Neal had stolen, but instead, he found a death certificate and all of the forms to go along, proving death.

"He's…dead." Peter said blankly, his mind not being able to comprehend something so…he couldn't think of an adjective to describe it. It was unthinkable. The charming conman had died, at only twenty-four years old.

He looked down at the papers, moving aside several to see one of them nearer to the bottom. He looked in the space that read "Cause of Death".

_Shark mauling._

Peter remembered that Neal's birthday was in six days, and he'd been killed by a damn _shark mauling_, apparently in the Caribbean. Of course Neal would die in some fantastic spectacle. He couldn't just die from a plane crash or car accident. It seemed just like him.

Which meant…

Peter laughed out loud, startling Diana. She looked at him questioningly, wondering if he'd lost his mind.

"He's not dead," Peter chuckled, giving the folder back to Diana. "A shark mauling. It's so _Neal_."

Diana's eyes lit with understanding. "I'll go look for a theft somewhere in the Caribbean area, boss."

Peter chuckled again and shook his head. "Don't bother. He's nowhere near the Caribbean. Continue as normal – we'll see if we come up with anything else – not one of Caffrey's cons. Put that in his file – we might have use for it later."

As Diana left, Peter sat down at his desk, laughing quietly to himself. Of course Neal would fake his death. He wanted the Feds off his tail, which meant they were getting close.

_At least he's not in it for greed, _Peter thought as he pulled the green sucker out of his cabinet drawer. He stared at it for several minutes, thinking of the man who had flaunted himself so openly to the very agent trying to catch him. Shame he hadn't known who he was then – he could've arrested him then instead of having to sift through false leads and more of Neal's cons. But it was clear that the reason Neal did all of this was just for the hell of it. He definitely loved the chase – that was all.

He remembered once before, about eight months back, he'd chased the young man through the streets of Venice after he'd stolen a statue from a local museum. He'd been hoping to find Neal with the object on him, most likely in his backpack. Except when he'd turned a narrow corner, he'd found Neal on his knees in front of a young girl, maybe five years old, who was sobbing uncontrollably. Peter had arrived just in time to see Neal put his arms around the young girl, trying to comfort her.

"I'll help you find her," Neal had promised her, obviously speaking of the young girl's mother. It was clear that the girl was American, most likely a tourist. Neal had glanced at Peter, but he didn't falter in his promise to the little girl. Instead, he'd reached down and pulled the girl up to sit on his shoulders so that she could see over the other people's heads to find her mother.

Peter hadn't followed as Neal went through the crowds and down other streets. It just didn't feel right. Neal was helping a little girl find her mother instead of running from the man trying to arrest him. Even when Neal knew he was probably going to be facing years in prison for the theft, he had simply given that up to help a child in need. When Peter had gone back to his hotel that night, he'd found the statue sitting on his bedside stand, a note sitting at the base. Curiously, Peter had opened it up and read it.

_Peter – _

_Just wanted to say that we found her mom in about an hour, and I happened to notice this, and remembered some report about it being stolen earlier. I just thought I should be a good citizen and return it to the leading agent on the case._

_Best wishes,_

_Neal_

Neal's actions that day had been Peter's first clue to his caring – and _daring _– side. He knew that the return of the statue was really just a thank-you, but Neal hadn't wanted anything to incriminate him, so he'd made it simple.

Peter chuckled. On a hunch, he pulled out his cell phone, he typed a text to 223-3739 – which spelled Caffrey. Neal had to have known that Peter would figure out his ploy and gotten a new phone number just for Peter's response.

HEY, CAFFREY. JUST GOT THE RESULTS. NICE TRY.

He pressed send, and it wasn't even a minute later when his phone _pinged _a reply. He opened the message.

EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD SHARK MAULING. :)

Cheeky bastard. He shook his head and laughed to himself, typing back a quick reply.

I'LL FIND YOU.

Before he'd even put the phone down, a message came through, and Peter quickly read through it.

GOOD LUCK, PETER. :)

This time the smiley-face seemed almost condescending, but Peter didn't bother sending back another text – Neal would've already disposed of it, and by the time Peter got a GPS up on the phone, the number would've been disconnected. So he didn't bother, simply taking a screenshot of the short conversation on his phone, and then printing it out from his computer.

When Peter went down to the bullpen, he was still chuckling to himself. Jones stopped him.

"What's so funny, boss?" he asked.

Peter shook his head. "Neal Caffrey is. What a bastard." But he was still smiling.

**~WC~**

**So…this idea just popped into my head after thinking about Vested Interest (Season 4, Episode 10) and Peter and Neal's comments about it, and I had to get it out. You guys like it? I enjoyed writing it. I liked that Peter almost immediately knew that Neal was faking…I think that was my favorite part. :) Please review – let me know what you guys think!**


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